Alliance Alert

Recent developments in Egypt show that Pope Francis’ visit to its capital Cairo last month might have inspired a more vigilant approach to religious hate speech against Christians by religious leaders and the media alike.

John L. Allen writes in the Catholic publication Crux that two recent signs suggest the visit might have been one of the more effective ones: “When [Francis] delivered his strongest-yet denunciation of religious violence and extremism, [he] may have captured a mood”.

Allen refers specifically to the construction of a new Christian church with Muslim support where the village Mayor, in his speech, presented its construction as a visible and concrete sign of strengthening national harmony.